Life returns to Mount St. Helens!

Dr. Keith Swenson • May 19th, 9:00am to 11:30am

Noah’s Flood left the entire earth biologically devastated. Creationists believe that over the tens, hundreds and thousands of years following the Flood, living organisms recovered, eventually producing the ecosystems seen on the modern earth. But is such a belief reasonable? Is the biota really that resilient? And if so, by what
ecological mechanisms could such remarkable transformation take place?

One source for answers is the study of recovery from modern disturbances, such as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Come and join us as Dr. Keith Swenson shows us this renewal of life in the blast zone, and suggests some comparisons between what happened there and what must have occurred globally following the great flood. Besides the presentation, there will be a Learning Activity Table, where you will be able to view displays about animals returning to the mountain, touch a cougar pelt, see samples of Mount St. Helens ash from different locations, and find out about rocks that float! You won’t want to miss it!

Also, an additional note of interest: if you are subscribed to the Journal of Creation, you can check out Keith Swenson’s article, “Arthropod responses to the 1980 Eruption of Mt. St. Helens – implications for Noahic Flood recovery” on pages 23-30 of the latest issue.

Dr. Keith Swenson is a retired medical doctor who now teaches courses in biology and geology at Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon. He also served for twenty years as President of Design Science Association and was on the board of the Seven Wonders Museum near Mount St. Helens. Keith especially enjoys leading field trips and has taken thousands to Mount St. Helens, the Columbia Gorge, Northwest forests and the Grand Canyon. He co-leads, with Dr. Steve Austin, periodic trips into the “Little Grand Canyon” at Mount St. Helens. Keith has a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Idaho and an M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He and his wife, Connie, have four grown children.